A Rough Beginning
by Lucky's Girl
Summary: Victor Creed aka Sabretooth has a psychic partner in crime, Birdy. How exactly does one learn to live and work with a psychopathic serial killer feral mutant who shows no love for anything but himself and violence? How does Sabertooth manage patience and trust long enough to keep her alive? It's a rough start but the two will find themselves surprised by what they can tolerate.
1. Chapter 1: Hong Kong

Author's Note- Alright! My first full length Birdy and Victor story! I wanted to tell the story of how they met and it tumbled into how they come to not entirely hate one another and not just their first encounter. It's already written out, too, so I'll be posting the rest of the story up once a week or so! If you get a chance please let me know what you think of my interpretation of how Birdy and Victor's meeting scene would have panned out!

There are two lines from the Maverick one-shot here from Victor and this is how the comic says they meet, but I don't own anything! Rated T for violence and language, this is Sabretooth afterall!

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 **Chapter 1**

She gawked… panic overwhelmed her senses. It poured through her chest with an icy chill and for the first time in years, she felt absolutely helpless. She'd given that beast of a guy her _best_ blast, a one shot K.O. He should be out… he should at _least_ be unconscious if he wasn't dead!

But all she did was throw him back into a wall… and inhumanely the bulking behemoth pulled himself up from the ground. She took an unsteady half step backwards as the man looked down at the streak of blood that came from his nose. He wiped it away with a finger and then steadily his head turned up to zero in on her.

The look she found on her adversary's face practically stopped her heart. She lost focus on the bullets that flew from the gang triad members that Creed had been here to eradicate. That's why they'd known where he would be. The triad's leader knew the contract was on him, and he hired her to get rid of Creed when he came to take the guy out.

As far as that guy's planned worked out… well, he was dead. She was pretty sure that was his body in the corner with his head half off his body, his neck sliced open. Now his lackeys, with their boss gone… and this _freaking zombie_ getting back up, turned tail and ran out the front door and the broken window she'd entered through moments ago.

So much for hard core triad members.

Not that she blamed them, as she watched the impossible continue on. The man stood completely unharmed. She should follow the gang members, try and lose this guy in their chaos. Any real form of an escape would be the correct course of action in this situation.

If she could make herself she would. But her feet were stuck, frozen in fear from the terrifying gaze the man sent her way. His eyes were small, just dark dots surrounded in white, and the low, churning chuckle that erupted into the sudden silence sent shivers down her arms.

The adrenaline finally kicked in and overcame her sudden fear, and she stumbled backwards with the quick reaction from her body. Her mind focused only on getting away, all over thoughts became unnoticeable.

"Nice try, little girl," The man-beast-whatever he was, finally spoke, in that crawling voice. She felt like she was the deer in the middle of the meadow, watching the wolf and wondering if she could outrun it and live. "Now its my turn."

The words bolted her into action, and she spun quickly to get away. She just had to get out the door, and then she could somehow lose him. If her mental blast did nothing, and the triad's guns didn't… what chance did she have? She had to try at least to run.

But it seemed that as soon as the words had fallen from his mouth, he was on her. She'd hardly had time to finish her spin much less _run_ before he'd reached her. A man his size… it felt like she should have had more time. She should have at least had speed as her advantage. Unfortunately that wasn't the case with the bionic man here.

She lost focus in the next few minutes. The rattled scream that ripped from her throat; as she was tossed further into the room, seemed to her that it came from someone else, somewhere in the distance.

She couldn't focus past the pain from the beating this guy gave her. Any kicks, punches, or scratches she tried were entirely in vain. He'd grabbed her gun and crumpled it like it was nothing but a paper toy.

Nothing affected him.

She couldn't move quick enough to evade him. She couldn't get her footing before he had her on the ground again. Her psychic blast had done zip. Hell she couldn't even move fast enough to dart off to gain the advantage.

It could only end one way. But the fact didn't stop her surprised gasp as his ginormous hands found their way around her throat.

"Ya could have put up more of a fight, girl, made it more _fun_ for me!" The guy taunted her, but she was too busy as she tried to gasp desperately for air. She hardly had time for a witty comeback to this bastard.

She didn't want to die this way. She wasn't ready to die. She just finally got her life into some semblance of order, finally she was on her own two feet and relying on no one. Even if it was in a shitty way, she'd finally gotten herself on her own two feet and needed nobody else. Applying her powers this way, they had finally done something for her instead of ruin her life over and over again.

She gasped again, and even still she clawed at the fingers that squeezed tightly on her throat.

"Nighty night bird," The guy laughed in that same low and deadly voice from before.

He _**laughed**_.

She struggled again, but her strength left her quickly. She sucked in for air again and pulled the last bit of energy she had to try and attack him mentally again. It didn't affect him before but… maybe if she caught him by surprise his grip would loosen enough she'd… she'd at least be able to get some air….

She wouldn't die without a fight.

So she launched the only attack at him that she could. With her mutant abilities. But she could feel how weak it was compared to the last one. She latched on desperately to his mind, and tried to shake him in some way. Unlike the last blast that seemed to almost bounce off him, her desperation, or maybe a surprise attack, allowed her the smallest entrance. A mere crevice past whatever he had that blocked her before.

All she saw were haunting shadows.

She'd entered not a usual mind, filled with pathways and directions to follow, the way the owner organized themselves. They all had different metaphors, doors, people, places, and the like. But they all followed an organized pathway of the person's mental state.

Instead of that, here she found a chaotic maze, if it could even be a maze. It was a mess of corridors, dark, slimy, and scattered with half reflected images all around. They hung there like dead weight instead of tucked away into place, she could feel the heaviness as she passed each one.

She had no idea how to even _begin_ to attack a mind like this. But she was desperate and quickly took the images she saw and shoved them away from her. Maybe if she moved some of this stuff around, threw it back into those dark, endless corridors, it might affect him enough that he'd drop her in reality…. at least shock him.

Without any reference to the time she'd been in his mind, she was jerked from his mind as she felt her body drop. The double sensation of falling, both out of his mind, and from the grip he'd had her in above the floor, made her reel for a moment.

Still with deep breaths, she stumbled up on her feet and saw that Creed had fallen backwards and was now sprawled out on the floor. She couldn't possibly hope he was dead, could she? She hadn't even known what she was doing in there…

"What the hell did ya do ta me?" He rumbled slowly from his position.

Well there was her answer. A big fat no. She looked around, that panic returned to her chest and she darted towards the door to make a get away. She expected to have herself yanked away from the door as she gripped the smashed frame. It was riddled with bullet holes, but Creed didn't grab her, or drag her back.

She spun out of the doorway, the crunch of glass beneath her boots felt like a safety net. A physical sign of her escape, and she sped as fast as her legs allowed past the Hong Kong triad's den.

She sent out a silent prayer, something she hadn't done in ten years, when she hit the pavement outside, her feet took her away from the disaster back there that almost ended her life.

She turned the corner, headed towards her car, when suddenly her stomach dropped. The hopefully, euphoric feeling fled from her quickly as suddenly Creed jumped down onto the sidewalk in front of her. She started to turn and run for the last alley she'd passed, but he grabbed her.

This time, though, it was by her arm, and there was no more fight.

"Get offa me!" She screamed, and it caused him to shake her. She pulled again, but it was hopeless to get out of his grip. He shook her again and bent his head down to look at her. She stared back angrily, not sure what else to do when she felt so terrified. His eyes weren't as dark as before, in the streetlights they seemed brown now and his iris's were bigger now, not as dilated as back in the den. They almost looked normal, except the way the light seemed to flash off his eyes was a lot like an animals in the dark.

"I asked ya a question," The man growled, a hand came up to grab ahold of her chin. He pulled her face so she stared directly at him. "What did ya do ta me back there?"

Forced to look at him, she questioned what she should do. He'd caught up to her at an inhuman pace… which meant running wasn't an option. If she could get his unshakeable grip off her arm to run in the first place. She really shouldn't be surprised after he got up from what should have been his demise.

"I hit you," She lied, and shrugged. Suddenly she could feel pressure under her jaw, like thick, jagged needles had poked into her skin. What sort of weapon was that?

"Don' lie ta me girl, could be the _**last**_ thing ya do." Creed threatened.

"I'm a psychic." She decided on, since she wasn't taking a risk. She had to manipulate him here… whatever had him paused she needed to figure it out and use it as an escape plan.

"Been attacked by psychics plenty a time, an' it didn' feel like _that_ ," Creed said, his head tilted to look at her suspiciously. This time she did shrug, and her lack of knowledge wasn't feigned.

"I don't know, it's just something I do."

She didn't have any real control over her powers. She just went along and found ways that her powers worked for her. It was all a guessing game for her, and sometimes it really didn't end well. For instance… right now was a prime example.

"Hrm," Creed muttered, and started to look her over. She scowled up at him, despite herself. "I ain't felt this good in years," He claimed.

Her gaze shifted and her face pinched downward in confusion. Because of what? Because of her attack? They weren't exactly meant to feel good! She had messed with his mind, that should have _hurt_! This guy was so **backwards** it was _insane_! Maybe that explained the state of his mind, maybe he was insane or something.

She didn't really know what answer she preferred here.

Without another word, he let go of her face, and looked around the area. Then he nodded his head as if he'd come to some sort of decision.

"Yer coming with me, then."

"Like hell I am," She snapped without thinking. She reprimanded herself for the mistake. She needed to think right now, she reminded herself, or she certainly wouldn't see tomorrow. "Listen, how about we just leave this like two professionals of the business and say there's no hard feelings, hm?"

She tried her best to stay cool. But being _kidnapped_ by the guy she was sent to _murder_ was not high on her bucket list!

Creed just snorted. "It's either come with me, or I let ya go… an' give ya a five minute head start before I catch up ta ya," The man leaned down so he was right in front of her face again. He had to hunch his shoulders considerably to manage it. But she could smell his breath and see his amber-brown eyes almost physically harden. "Trust me, ya won' wants ta find out what comes next," He sneered, and straightened up.

She scowled, but said nothing… because that couldn't really be more clear, could it? She was going to have to wait this out and find a different escape route.

"Glad we understand each other bird," Creed said, turned, still with a hold on her arm and decided to just tug her along. What a guy.

"Who even uses the word bird anymore anyways?" She muttered pettily, and crossed her arms as best she could. Talk about an outdated word. Not even a popular one, like you saw on tv shows. She only knew it because her hazy, early memories included a grandfather, or an older uncle maybe? Someone that called his wife that… she didn't remember clearly.

"Now _you_ do, Bird." He smirked nastily down at her and she couldn't help it. She knew Creed was just goading her, that he only said it because clearly it had gotten under her skin. But she wasn't going to be silenced either! She had to follow along with this for now… she didn't have to be quiet about it.

"No. I don't," She corrected him. "I'll go by whatever I _want_."

"Don' care," Creed shrugged, and she glowered up at her. All it did was make him smirk at her. "We'll just calls ya Birdy."

"I already have a name," She snorted.

This guy was a murder, kidnapper, probably crazy, and now an ego-maniac as well. This was a _real_ good spot she'd gotten herself into this time! She was about to say something until a thought occurred to her. Yeah…. on second thought, maybe she'd let him keep the nickname. It was better if the guy freaking _kidnapping_ her had no idea what her real name was. Then it couldn't come back on her later. Later when she _**did**_ escape and was long gone from this mess.

"Not anymore, _**Birdy**_. Yer mine now an' y'll go by whatever I tells ya."

She swore under her breath, like hell she was. But there wasn't much to be argued with the murderer here as he shoved her into the passengers side of a car and got in the driver's seat, and sped off with her. Although it was a bit hypocritical since she'd come to kill him… but she wasn't kidnapping anybody! There was that….

It didn't really matter. He could think whatever he wanted… it was only a matter of time before she found her opportunity to slip away and escape. Until then… she'd play his game and keep alive, but it wasn't going to last. Despite what this psycho thought.


	2. Chapter 2 : Vancouver

Author's Note- Yay another chapter! This one didn't exist in the first draft, but I felt like I needed to add a scene between the first and what is now the third chapter. There is probably more that could be between it but this is what we're getting in this fic, anything else would be much shorter, and if I came up with any I'd probably stick them in my Victor/Birdy collection of One-shots. Also to separate scenes the / / / / is meant to be Victor's claw marks! 8) Anyways thanks for reading and please take some time to leave me a review! I'd love to know what you all think!

Guest: Thanks for your review! I'm not sure which comic line you're referring to but I don't know all the different origin stories for Victor. I follow the Sabretooth: Origins one-shot comic where he breaks free from the basement he's being kept in and kills his parents, but that's just what I've read, I know there are other canon versions than that like the Wolverin Origins I and II. I believe that Victor loves on a fundamental level too, he's just very selfish and certainly doesn't act in many loving ways or go out of his way to show it even if he does care about someone. Thanks for your input and your review! :D

I own nothing!

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Chapter 2

The fifteen hellish hour flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver Canada was spent wondering where this asshole was taking her now that he believed she was behaving like a good little girl. If he had so much as disappeared from her sight once, she would have been gone. But the guy was smart enough. He never was out of eye contact and he kept her very close.

She'd learned on her way over that that 'weapon' he'd had earlier when he'd grabbed her face wasn't a weapon at at all. They were claws. Like actual bear claws or something that were sunk into his hands. A warning from the asshats that hired her would have been really nice.

One of his new favorite pastimes was to put his arm around her waist and sink those lovely things near her wrist if they were going through a security checkpoint that he was worried she might get squirrelly going through.

"If ya tries anytin', they can' save ya fast enough from _me_. They won' live real long to try." He had said.

"Like I care about the security," She'd scoffed. But the message had rung through loud and clear. The airport wasn't her place to strike and get away. To get lost in the crowds or get security to help her.

She'd never been in Canada before, but she'd already decided after one airport and one cab ride that she didn't like it very much. It had rained since they touched down, dramatically in fact. It rained where she grew up like anywhere else, and she'd traveled a lot by the time she was twenty-four, but this was ridiculous.

It might as well be right out of a movie. It was rained like it was the end of days. A heavy, thin stream fell all around them. If the puddles that collected along the side of the street and gushed along into the sewer openings were anything to judge by, it had been doing so for awhile now. All they needed was a dramatic love scene and it'd be all set.

The cab pulled to a stop and Creed paid the cabby and tugged them both out of the car. She jerked her arm away and he let her. She realized why as she looked around. If she tried to run she wouldn't get much farther than she had in Hong Kong. The street they'd pulled up to was practically empty. A few big houses this way or that, but mostly there were a lot of forests and a lot of space between the enormous estates.

It was much to her shock that she was dragged up to one of these houses with wall surrounding it and an iron gate. While Creed moved over to fiddle with the security screen on the side of the gate, she stared in shock.

Whatever she'd built up in her mind all the way here… this hadn't really been an option she'd selected. Somehow the crazy, mercenary mutant that attacked like he was a bear or a tiger, owning; well practically a mansion, with a security system and a nicely manicured lawn, just hadn't sprung to mind.

Some sleepy trailer or a dive sort of place. Maybe a hut in the middle of a forrest that was in disrepair or even a cave or something would fit. There was a loud click and he opened the gate and pulled her along with him. She wondered again, not for the first time and hopefully it'd be the last soon, who the hell she'd been sent to kill. He was seeming less and less like some mercenary terrorist mutant and more and more like a James Bond villain… except with a creepy mutation and not British.

"Oh, an' just so yas don' go getting no ideas," Creed said after he'd turned his security back on. With a dramatic flair, Creed turned and picked up a chair that sat on the porch. Without much effort at all, he lobbed it over his head and hurled it into the lawn. Her eyes grew round as lasers jumped from the sides of the walls surrounding the house and fenced wall, and blasted that poor chair into a million shards of wood.

The man chuckled sinisterly next to her. "It ain't real picky neither, so go ahead an' _try_ steppin' out for a walk without my say so."

Apparently he thought that was absolute because he left her standing there alone for the first time since he'd dragged her into that car.

Well shit… another obstacle to figure out… but if he'd turned it on and off, there must be a way for her to figure it out too. She wouldn't let the death lasers and freakin _turrets_ in the yard get her down. Oh, she'd find her way out, despite what this arrogant shit thought. He'd be sitting in this little mansion of his scratching his head and wondering how she pulled it off.

For the time being she was going to have to be the one wondering how exactly she planned to pull this off… it didn't matter. He'd have to leave her alone eventually, or he'd slip up in some way or another. Whenever that time came… she'd be right there to weasel her way out of this mess and never look back.

/ / / / /

Birdy's hums were the only thing she could hear in the big house. It wasn't any tune she really knew or remembered, it was just something to hear. She wasn't a big fan of silence. A quiet little hum was enough noise for her though. It sounded light and carefree to her ears, while she felt trapped and worried.

She'd wondered around this place for the last few days in an attempt to find a way out of the building and yard. A way that didn't end up with her being dead. It started to appear to her this morning that the idea was pretty useless. Creed wasn't only impossible to fight, and _crazy_ , he was apparently not a complete moron either. Which was really too bad. She could have used the break.

His security system did most of the work for him. He'd shown her the tree line out back after his little tour of the place. If she went past the tree line, apparently security would tag her as much as stepping off the porch out of the doors would tag her, or going outside of the garage would tag her… and it would all end up with 'the hassle o'cleanin bits of ya offa the grass' as he so eloquently put it.

She scowled again, but continued to run her hand along the trim that met the wallpaper from above and went down into the wooden panels that were waist height down. What exactly had he kidnapped her for again? Because all she'd done was take a lame tour where he told her all the ways she could accidentally kill herself with his security system and shown her the room he'd oh so _graciously_ given her. She hadn't spoken so much as another word since that first day, and stir crazy was a good definition.

Birdy frowned and stopped just by a window, her hums died in her throat and she looked outside. It wasn't so much that she felt trapped in here, the joint was nicer than anywhere she'd ever lived in her life. But being under Creed's thumb was really her problem…

Speaking of, a thunderous slam rang through the empty halls and vibrated in her ears. The pictures that lined the various hallways rattled from the force of what sounded like the front door. Birdy didn't need to make the decision to go see what it was or to scamper off in the right direction because she heard the roared shout that bounded down the halls just after the noise from the front door.

" **BIRDY**!"

Her shoulders hunched automatically and she fought the urge to sprint in the opposite direction. She could hear his stomps headed this way anyways. Birdy shook herself, and felt a bit disgusted with herself, she wasn't going to be afraid of this guy. It might be reasonable to fear Creed, and yes he may have nearly killed her, but she was still alive wasn't she? That was because of her powers or something right? She wasn't going to get walked over… more than she had to to stay alive. If he didn't need her he would have killed her right away. She just needed to see how far she could push that….

As Creed blew through the door at the other end of the hallway, she realized now was not the time to push anything. The door shattered and sent chunks of wood into the air. As they rained down in front of her and the behemoth stormed his way up to her, Birdy's previous thoughts vanished for another time and she felt a surge of adrenaline kick in. Her head screamed to protect herself from the seething man in front of her.

"Give it ta me **now**!"

"Give you what?" She asked, and had to dodge to her left to avoid Creed's massive hand from pinning her by the throat to the wall. What the hell did he think she had exactly?

" _ **NOW**_!" He bellowed.

"I didn't take anything!" She snapped, her temper got the better of her. At least it did until he made some sort of a snarl type noise and left her no time to dodge. Instead he pinned her body to the wall with his forearm and she forgot all about being indignant.

"I want the Glow **NOW**!" His voice came out deafening this close and she couldn't help but flinch from it. She felt suddenly in danger again, he was going nuts, and Birdy did not understand what the hell he was talking about, and she _needed_ to in this moment. The pressure he had against her chest just from his forearm was a good reminder of that.

So she tried again.

"If you want me to do something," She tried to speak calmly, even if it was hard with how hard her heart raced away. "How about speaking English? What the hell is a glow?"

She jerked her head back as Creed got in her face, but didn't manage anything but her neck being strained. He held her gaze and it was the first time she'd focused enough on him to take in any details. Past his bared teeth and the fangs that were prominent against the rest of his teeth, his eyes looked different. There was something wrong with them. His eyes looked like they were all white, almost, but the more he pushed his face towards her, the more she could see the small black dots behind the weird white fogginess. Even this close to his face she could hardly see the black dots in the white of his eyes.

"Ya _**don**_ ' plays with me, girl, an' ya **don** ' tells **me** what ta do."

She didn't tell him what to do! She could hardly think about what she'd said exactly though, with him so close to her face, and the increased pressure to her torso. What was she supposed to do? The dangerous guy who could probably crush her wouldn't just _tell_ her what the hell he wanted from her! How fucking childish was that anyways? Birdy took in a short breath and tried to reorient herself. Okay... she needed to keep calm and figure out how to get it out of him…

"I'm not," She spoke softly, in an attempt to not piss him off more. "Just tell…" The dangerous flash in his eyes and the way he pulled his lips back more made her scramble for different words. "I don't understand what you want… if I understand, I'll do whatever you're asking."

That wasn't 'telling' him what to do right? Man child… but at this moment she didn't care what he was as long as he calmed down or got away from her. One or the other… Creed didn't stop his stare at her, and all she could focus on was the quick breaths between them…

Birdy started to realize that the foggy quality of his eyes seemed to lessen a bit, and she could see the dark color of his eyes again…. they were still smaller than was natural and seemed to be all black, but…

"In Hong Kong," His voice was steadier, but it still had that edgy... almost wild quality to it. "Do it again. _Right_. **Now**."

He wanted her to blast him? Freakin crazy lunatic! He did realize that could hurt him right?

Then again… she'd tried to kill him in Hong Kong, so maybe it couldn't hurt him. He had said he hadn't felt so good in years, which meant she'd been right assuming that her powers were why he dragged her along and kidnapped her.

A sudden shake from him threw her from her thoughts and Birdy nodded quickly. He stopped baring his teeth now, and Birdy asked for a little room. He reluctantly complied and took a small step away from her. Minuscule, but it was enough to let her breath. Birdy took a slow, steadying breath and then summoned enough energy to throw a mental blast at him. It hit his mind and she was able to find the same catch in his mind as before and she slipped into the darkness.

When she came out of it, he'd been thrown back against he short distance to the opposite wall of the hallway. Birdy looked Creed over and found he was half slumped to the floor, but his face and been transformed. His breathes were steady now, and slowed. The ugly snarl was replaced by the slightest of smiles and the lines across his bunched forehead had disappeared, and his face was completely smooth.

She didn't know exactly what to do now, he wasn't unconscious, but he wasn't moving either. After a long moment she decided to just take a step back. As if he'd been attached to a string, as her foot landed behind her, his eyes flew open.

Birdy looked at him uncertainly, and mentally prepared herself for an explosion again. Instead, he stayed quiet and just kept his eyes trained on her. As she looked back, she found his eyes completely different again… they looked, well mostly normal. There was no trace of that fog, whatever it was, and the beady black eyes had transformed back to a normal iris and were a dark chocolate now.

Without a word he stood up slowly, and moved almost sluggishly towards the end of the hallway he'd blown into. Birdy wondered a minute whether she would be allowed to go her own way or if she was meant to follow him. She decided to play it safe and followed behind him a good distance. He had walked back to the entrance of the house and re-armed the security, it looked like.

Shit! She could have gotten out between his return and now? After a moment of cursing herself, Birdy decided she really couldn't have. He'd moved so quickly and the moment she'd taken a step once she hit him he was moving again. She realized now it was probably because of his security system being down.

He turned around to face her and grunted once, before he moved past her. So… what now? Birdy followed him across the length of the house into a back room, tucked away from the rest. She hadn't seen it before, but when she stepped in behind him it looked like an office.

Creed continued to ignore her presence and walked towards a chase set up in the corner and dropped onto it unceremoniously.

"So… what now?" She voiced her earlier thought, and crossed her arms a little annoyed at his sudden silence.

"What's 'now' is I'm takin' a nap," Creed spoke calmly and it was almost impossible to imagine this was the same person as ten minutes ago. He kicked off his boots and they landed onto the floor with a thud, mud splattered across the furniture he laid on. "I don' give a damn what ya do."

She made a noise in the back of her throat and frowned over at him. But the damn bastard did just that. He completely ignored her and went to sleep! Birdy glared over at his sleeping form and looked around the room she hadn't explored yet.

She rounded on the desk and her face crinkled. There was a computer set in the middle and she was pretty sure that under the piles and piles of screwed up papers was a phone and some bins.

"What a freakin' slob," She muttered under her breath. The chase gave a creak and Birdy glanced up to see if she had woken him. It didn't look like she had, the guy just turned over onto his side, facing her. With a shrug she sat down at the desk and started to poke around the papers and try to at least put them in piles…

Birdy couldn't say how long it had been that Creed had been asleep and that she'd been arm deep in the chaos of papers everywhere. She kept asking herself how Creed _found_ any of his job's information with the mess he called his office. Plus, he should really shred some of this! It was incriminating evidence. She'd found that under the left side of the the mess had been a printer with a fax machine attached and that a lot of the papers were still sitting untouched in the fax! It was obvious from this place and the garage alone that Creed wasn't hurting for cash. But how did he expect to keep up his reputation as a merc if he didn't even _reply_ to job offers?

She was so busy with her finishing touches that she hadn't realized the man who imprisoned her had gotten up. Birdy set the last stack of unread faxes into the top of the bin, and from what she could tell (the completed work that had mostly been bunched into a ball) put the finished jobs into the bottom desk draw.

"What are ya doin' frail?"

"Eep!" She squeaked, and jumped out of the seat and out of her chair with wide eyes. She spun and looked at the man who had suddenly appeared behind her. Her eyes flashed back to the chase and then back at him.

He apparently found that funny because his chuckle was the only response before he lightly pushed her aside so he could sit in the chair she'd just occupied.

"What'd ya do?" He asked again, more firmly, and then he glanced at her. Birdy shook herself. Okay, so of course he was really stealthy on top of being too strong and being smart, and huge. Her get away kept getting farther and farther away.

"Obviously I organized this mess," She spread her hands over the desk. He gave her a dirty glance but she chose to ignore it and reached over him to grab the stack of papers on the top of the bin. "Here," She set them in front of him. "You haven't even touched these job offers."

He arched an eyebrow but said nothing. Birdy reached across his chest and tugged one out of the middle that she'd put a paperclip in. "You really shouldn't ignore this one, it's really good money and not a lot of risk."

Creed didn't answer her but as she walked away he did thumb through it.


	3. Chapter 3 : New York

Author's Note\- Here's the next chapter! I'm sorry it is a little late, but I never got time to do a final edit and post before now! This chapter and the next were originally one long one combined and was going to be the entire story, but it expanded and I added to a lot of what is now Chapter 3. I believe there will only be one more chapter, but I like ending stories in increments of five so there may be another that I tack on later!

Thank you to Irbis for all your lovely awesome reviews! They make me so happy and help so much!

I own nothing! The first few lines are out of X-Men #6 I believe, Birdy's only X-Men comic appearance.

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Chapter 3

Birdy sighed as they got out of his flashy car to take the rest of the journey on foot. It turned out that getting away was harder than she initially thought it would be. His house, where he'd taken her to in some rainy wasteland, was wound up tighter than Fort Knox! His security system was beyond her ability to understand much less dismantle and on top of it it turned out that not only was he a zombie mutant, he could also had heightened senses. So anyone could imagine how easily an actual escape was for her.

She'd been going mad, locked up for the first week or so, with nothing to do but wonder around his unnecessarily huge house. Until she started to realize that the more he made her use her powers for him, which she was still was in the process of trying to get the hang of and replicate what he wanted… the more she could get him to budge slightly. She'd gotten him to agree to let her work with him, at least so she could retain some sort of dignity…

" _Well if you're going to force me to be here you're obligated to at least give me some real work to do." She threw out boldly as she leaned down with her hands on his desk to capture his attention to whatever he was doing with the computer in front of him._

 _"'Yeah, think so do ya?'" Creed leaned back in his chair, and slid his head back to look at her. She stood her ground._

 _"I do," She pushed on, he needed her to do what she was doing with her powers. That was clear. If she was staying here… she was gonna have_ something _her way. "And I'll have you know, Mister Creed, that you'll have to pay me for my services too."_

 _He barked out a laugh, but it didn't stop her from nodding her head quickly._

 _"Yah, we'll see 'bout that frail."_

 _She continued on, encouraged, whenever he called her 'frail' he was usually in a mood she could push him._

 _"I'm not cheap either, Boss."_

So here she was… going around on some dangerous, crazy hunt for these mutants. She just had to open her big mouth to Creed and demand he let her go about her work. Or at least help with his.

"Are you sure we have the right address?" Creed asked, chin up as he tested the air around the brick alleyway. "Hardly seems like the type o'neighborhood where yer gonna start a fourth reich."

"I am picking up the emotional feedback of the Fenris twins, as well as unaccountable thought signature," Birdy responded, but her attention was on the tendrils of thought signatures not too far off that she could feel stretched out this way to her.

"Yer sayin we're bein spied on?"

He looked down at her and Birdy finally called it quits on her attempt to figure anything else out. Someone told her once she was an Alpha class psy-talent; whatever the hell that meant, but she couldn't figure out much besides their brief surface thoughts. There was some sort of blocks.

"Yes," She answered and looked away from Creed.

"Be a dear and jam their signal."

She rolled her eyes, yeah, okay, she'd just get right on that and 'jam' their signal. Like she could do that. Oh, psychic? Must be able to do anything that's suddenly necessary! That's not how it worked, she wasn't practiced enough to control people through their mind much less break out a new mutant power and start controlling video cameras!

In the last couple of weeks spent with Creed, she'd already learned that being creative with his demands was better off for her than to just tell him it didn't work that way. Not that she didn't give him a freaking mouthful. She may be his prisoner, but she wasn't going to be a _well behaved_ prisoner. It satisfied her that he got so annoyed with it. But whatever she did for his head, must be enough for him to put up with her attitude.

It wasn't so bad, really.

At the very least it pushed her to figure out new ways to make her powers useful. She could see Mister Creed's impatient so she just reached out to the thought signatures she'd brushed against and threw up a thinly veiled image in their mind of the screens from the security camera across the alley going blank. That was the best she could do… and hope they went along with it.

The important part was that the big lug here was convinced as he muttered. "-and whoever ya are— count yourself lucky."

Birdy walked behind him further into the alley before he approached a door that was clearly not the original to the brick building. It looked old, but she could see the re-enforced steel wasn't meant to keep _just_ the wind out.

"Alright, Birdy, scram wouldja," Creed growled, rolled his neck and knocked heavily on the door.

The light 'humph' she let out was mostly faux, really she was all too happy to turn around and 'follow' his order. What? He said scram, she'd gladly scram. Despite her previous job title, she didn't enjoy Creed's personal, twisted form of entertainment.

"Oh, an' don't get no _ideas_ , frail, an' wander off," Creed turned and looked at her, a dangerous glint settled in his dark eyes. "I better find ya waitin' in the car, ya hear?"

"Yes siree," She hummed, just a touch of sarcasm in her voice. It earned herself an angry, short growl from the blonde psycho. He was distracted by someone who came to the door, though, and headed into the building.

Birdy traced her way back to Creed's shiny car and leaned against the door of it for awhile. It was nice out, but as good as it felt to have the sun warm her skin, Birdy got bored too easily to stay and sit in the car like a good little girl.

She looked down the street they'd parked in and then up the other way for something to do. Sure, she wasn't going to make a dash for it. At this stage in the game, it was really, _very_ clear to her that Sabretooth was more than capable of finding her wherever or however she ran.

Whatever she'd done to his head, he _jonesed_ for it bad. It gave her a real advantage… or at least forced patience on him that he clearly didn't possess innately. As long as it kept her alive. That was the disadvantage of all this, to be honest, Creed himself. He was either slaughtering someone or planning to, or he was miserable. It was a real downer.

Probably Birdy should be more worried he would flip out and kill her, or something, but she found all she had to do was find an excuse to rattle his skull and he went from vicious as his namesake to as calm and playful as a kitten.

She'd have to excuse the cat metaphors… those she'd probably keep to herself. She liked to press his buttons, but she didn't like to press them _that_ much.

It wasn't the worst job she'd ever had, though. Definitely not. She'd been on her own since fifteen, and she certainly had done worse. The mercenary stuff at the top of her shitty resume.

The sudden thought made her wonder when her perspective had changed. It definitely started out as a kidnapping, and she didn't really **care** what Creed called it.

But the way it'd gone down after the forced plane ride back to the states, it did sure seem like a job she'd landed into but never applied for. He paid her, literally she had a paycheck. Alright, so it was all cash and they'd argued out monthly or weekly. (She tried bi-weekly as a compromise, but the stubborn ass didn't like his man-ego being questioned too much.) She lost, but at least she had; for the first time in her life, a monthly paycheck that she could actual live on if she wanted. Live on and _more_ , actually.

If she looked at it that way, she was **_really_** winning out here. She went from hired hit woman to… well there wasn't much of a title for it. Hm, she'd call it 'career consultant/psychiatrist'. She helped Creed organize his jobs, did paperwork, dealt with phone calls he was _clearly_ horrible at, messed around with his head to settle him down, and sometimes, as in today's case, she 'consulted' by helping to track people down.

Birdy doubted he couldn't have found them himself, but he insisted this was easier to have her do it and it was time sensitive. Which was a clear lie. She wasn't stupid, she could recognize that it had only been a few weeks of her being here, two weeks of her actually agreeing to any of this, and this trip was all the way in New York. Far from Vancouver where Creed had dragged her to after he'd taken her from Hong Kong. He didn't want to risk she'd give him the slip.

Which, maybe stupidly, made her think that she had a good chance if she decided to slip off.

Now wasn't the time for that, though. If she really wanted to… she considered maybe she had that prisoners problem where they got comfy. But Birdy was pretty sure that took longer than a couple weeks, and honestly… this just seemed like it was going places for her. It was worth seeing if it was, and then she could always bolt down the line if something went haywire. For now, who could argue with a steady paycheck and a free place to live and free food?

So instead of any escape plans, Birdy wandered down the street and down a block from there to a dive bar that was actually open at this time of day. Good old New York City, there were no liquor laws, well none that were followed she'd say.

Half an hour later Birdy had enjoyed a nice cold bottle of her favorite beer and was onto a second, kicked back at one of the bar stools. Surprisingly she wasn't the only patron this early in the day. There were three guys on the left around a pool table, a sleezeball who was sloppy after what looked like more than a few beers at the other end of the bar and two guys sat at a table by the door.

The buzz from her third Stella helped Birdy tune out the thoughts around her. She reached down and dug into her coat pocket for her wallet to pay, since she should cut it off at three and get back to the car before Creed showed up and got the wrong idea. She had just set the money, and a generous tip for the bartender, on the bar top when she felt like someone was over her shoulder.

Birdy glanced out of the corner of her eyes, and expected to see the blonde behemoth to be snarling at her for wondering off. Instead she found the sleezeball from across the bar had taken the seat just next to her and was leaned in far too close.

She narrowed her eyes and thought about a mental tap to get him to leave her alone, but she decided to go the oldies way.

"Don't you have somewhere better to be? Like out of my personal space?" She asked as she gave the guy the cold shoulder. Easy, cold blow off, and she could get back to the car.

"You seemed lonely over here, baby."

She rolled her eyes and stood up and turned for the door so the guy couldn't go on anymore. Yeah, right. Girl couldn't even go get a drink without someone giving her a hard time.

Birdy shrugged it off and stepped out the door into the street. She'd been inside longer than she'd thought, the sky had grown darker and the air cooled around her. The clear carefree sky from before had been replaced with angry grey clouds sprawled over the sky above her.

Okay _new_ reason to get to the car: she didn't want to get rained on and have wet hair the entire way to the hotel. Or to Vancouver, depended on if Creed had finished with the entire job.

She'd reached the car and found he wasn't there yet, no surprise in that. It had only been a bit over two hours and any meeting would take that long. She turned the keys and turned up the radio to waste a little time while she waited.

After she grew bored of the radio, she finally checked her watch. Birdy had reached the car _two_ hours ago now! Creed was about out of time for her to be bothered with waiting for him! Birdy reached out mentally and tried to catch his thought pattern anywhere close by.

It was hard with Creed… while she could push her way in his head or throw an attack his way… it was tricky to pick his actual thoughts up like this. He didn't seem to project his surface thoughts like people tended to do, and it always seemed like he had some sort of block in his thick skull. It wasn't of a psychic variety, though, it felt very natural somehow. She didn't understand it yet, and she wasn't sure he knew or would respond truthfully if she asked.

Still, despite the difficulty she had when reading his mind, Birdy still thought she was close enough and familiar with him enough by now, that she ought to have been able to pick it up. Yet she didn't get so much as a sliver of anything that could be Creed. So he must have just gone off without saying anything to her. That sounded _exactly_ like something he would do.

She scoffed and finally climbed over the console of the car to get in the drivers seat.

Fine, she'd take herself back to the hotel and he could find his own way back. He could have just _told_ her he wouldn't be headed back! He probably went off somewhere on some whim. She wasn't worried that he had found trouble, Sabretooth could handle himself, that much was certain. Plus this wasn't a regular job, he'd clearly known the guy he'd been headed to today, handled the whole thing personally and just asked her to track the two twins down to here. Probably to double check his guys facts. So she had no qualms going back and leaving him to walk his butt back.

Birdy managed to outdrive the rain back to the hotel room he'd rented. Since he still hadn't shown up she decided to make a night of it for herself. She hadn't brought anything too fancy, but she got out of her skintight work outfit and wiggled her leg out of her knee high boots, suckers were tight on her calves, but they were stylish enough it was worth it. She changed into something nice to go down and eat dinner at the restaurant on the first floor.

After she'd spent the evening having the best steak she'd had in her _life_ , Birdy went back upstairs to soak in the overly fancy bathroom. It was high end as hell, and she enjoyed every second of it before she slipped into her pajamas and slid into the fine satin bedding.

Creed may be a crude, short tempered, violent ass, but he had good taste, she'd give him that. This was a nice hotel. Birdy kept her ears, and mind, open for Creed's entrance into his side of the hotel room adjoined to hers, as she fell to sleep, but never heard him.

The peaceful slumber she'd fallen into, was abruptly broken with the sound of an explosive bang.

Birdy threw herself up in bed. She tossed her covers off just in time to see the door that connected her room and Creed's hurdled into her room. She gasped in surprise as it hit the wall opposite her bed with a bang that sent the picture hung there to the floor with a crash. Birdy leapt out of bed opposite the side of the door. She kicked the tangled sheets around her legs off, and they lay strewn around her on the floor.

Posed for a fight, Birdy focused her powers for whoever had maybe followed her here, or someone followed Creed maybe. She was ready to blast them a good one, but was shocked when it was Creed who jumped through the doorway, and tossed something from his hand as he started to shout.

"I had him!" He howled, anger seemed to roll off him in waves. "I had the little shrimp, and those fucks!" In the dimly lit room, the candles from before barely still alive, Birdy could see his tipped claws growing into talons.

He didn't stop the shouting about whatever had happened. About how he lost some guy named Logan, and some lab guy named Cornelius had robbed him? Of something? What had he gotten into past the job? Or was this the job the whole time and that's why he was so secretive about the details and had handled them himself?

"Are… are you okay?" She asked hesitantly, eyebrows raised. Not that she should care very much… but he was straight up losing his shit!

Her saying something might have been the **_opposite_** of a good idea, though. While he stopped his raging… his sudden, and complete silence in the hotel room was harder to deal with. Especially since his gaze had fixated on her. Not in the good way, in the creepy way. There was a definite crazed glint was in the killer's cold eyes.

"It's _you_ …" Creed hardly whispered before he shouted deafeningly again, the shock of noise vibrated around the room and made her ears ring. "Yer making me **weak**!" He howled again and Birdy shrunk back. She couldn't help but wonder if an escape strategy wasn't necessary…

"That little bitch Braddock!" Who? Why did she have a bad feeling about how he was slowly advanced towards the bed that separated them. "She never woulda been able ta if it weren't for ya! Ya did somethin' ya lil'bitch!"

"Wha-what are you talking about!" She gasped. The gasp turned into a short scream as he launched over the bed that was between them and was practically on top of her.

"Nobody controls Sabretooth!" He screamed in her face. It made her ears echo almost, but that could be the large hand that had suddenly wrapped around her neck. She tried to choke out a word, but he was only raved more, like a complete psychotic _lunatic_. Right, what moron turned a kidnapping into a job anyways? This moron, that was it.

She gasped sharply as his hands tightened, and her eyes started to burn from her strangled gasps. Birdy mustered all her energy, hardly able to keep focused on her task as his other hand came up and clamped around her throat too.

The blonde man, teeth bared and all snarls, was nothing but a blurred image as she let out a blast that pierced into his mind.

It was different than the other times she'd blasted his head. She already knew, from her first meeting of the man, that one strong blast did nothing but rebound off his walls. But slipping past those walls and pushing at anything she came across had worked. He called it 'The Glow' because apparently the side effect left him flying high. It was the reason she wasn't dead, and the reason he'd grabbed her to keep her around.

Birdy didn't know if it would save her life this time, being in his mind only distorted her view on time, it didn't really pause what was happened in real time. A hundred things could be seen in his mind in just a second of reality.

The last few times she'd blasted him, it had been different. Going into Creed's head was like going into one of those scary mazes that got set up around Halloween. She wondered through the dark and horrors would jump out at her from his mind. Whatever tormented him at the time she'd blast him, she guess. Unfortunately, Creed's head was more gory, and scary than a guy in a mask who jumped out with a chainsaw or someone who stuck their hands through haystacks to grab you. His mind was filled with death, blood, and gore, worst than any scary movie could dream up.

But this time... whatever the difference… it wasn't a blur of horrific images, of pure nightmares. Instead the images twisted into something else. Into clear pictures, all tinted red, but they were clear. She could see who the Braddock girl he'd been talking about was, Betsy Braddock, codenamed Psylocke… and he'd gone in after those twins and found a group he hated? The X-Men? All tied up to the walls, but somehow the Braddock lady had slipped in Creed's head and controlled him. She must be a psychic, which is why he'd connect Birdy to what went on.

She could see that he'd found who he was talking about with Braddock in the sewers, this Logan guy, and they'd he'd been hurt and didn't put up much of a fight before passing out. They'd taken him to the guy leading the two Fenris Twins…. and to this Doctor Cornelious, and then Creed left?

He was forced under this telepath's control to help free his enemies the X-Men. She could feel the rage as he helped them, unable to stop his body's movements. In no real control… and then the click, where his mind must have fought off the woman's control. It seemed like his anger, had loosened her grip, his mind turning so much less readable. It had given him the edge to slip out of her control. But Sabertooth had been gotten out of it before he let them leave and attacked these X-Men people instead, and then came here.

There wasn't much more to see so Birdy moved past the image as she shoved it back, and tucked it away where it wouldn't be so damn enormous in his mind. Only to have it replaced by another. It swung at her as quickly as he had jumped over the bed to snatch her up. Rushed in his anger.

This time Creed was fighting on a cliff, but with the same man, Logan. In this memory she realized this man, clearly a rival of Creed's, was his rival for good reason. Creed was goading him, clearly, to get a rise out of him, to get a _fight_.

It wasn't until Creed started to list off girls to the other man, someone named Pryde, Rogue, and Jubilee that he would go after and kill slowly, that the other man launched into the fight she could feel Creed wanted so badly. Like Creed, he had claws she could see clearly in the memory. The sprung from his wrists, instead of his hands like Creed, and they both attacked each other in the same manner as they wrestled through the foliage around them.

It was clear that with each threat from Creed, this man got angrier and angrier until he almost didn't seem human. But despite Creed's strength and clear mind, Logan had started to win, and it surprised Creed. He usually won with the man, and he'd felt in control of the fight he'd pushed so hard to start.

On the verge of defeat by the other man, who was trying to decapitate Creed now, so egged on by the threats he was willing to fight to the death to be sure Creed couldn't go after whoever, Creed threw them off the cliff and over a waterfall.

The Logan man tried to continue to fight under the water, but a well timed kick sent Logan up, and Creed sinking downward. Badly injured from both the fall and the savage fight, and with the same rage Birdy had witnessed in the hotel room, he'd swam deeper down and farther away to escape the other man.

She could feel the water pressing in on his lungs, the lack of air started to affect him, but he kept on with the swim and pushed himself until his mind started to blur. Only then did he surface from the cascading river and look back down towards the waterfall. He could just barely see Logan from there, his eyes picking up some woman who had forced the Logan guy from the water. Creed didn't wait around for more, anger from his loss sent him through the woods in a frenzy.

Birdy pushed the overwhelming anger of the memory, down and away from her, so she didn't drown in it too. She was grateful when it disappeared into the dark shadows of Creed's mindscape.

Another memory assaulted her all too quickly, this time on the top of some building. Or it might not be a building. Birdy couldn't quite figure out what it was in the dark, but it didn't seem like a rooftop. The area was much smaller than a skyscraper would be, which is where you'd need to be to get this much wind in the dark night that surrounded the memory.

Birdy saw the same pattern continue, his same rival, Logan was fighting once again with him. The surface under them was metal, and their claws dug into one another, each savagely tore through the other, but the anger was not as heavy as it had been before. It wasn't as personal.

Something bright was above them on a platform and she realized it created a lot of the wind, someone was screaming up there, a girl. A bright light was beginning to form, like a strange bubble around the metal whatever it was up there.

Creed was too busy with his fight to notice above them, but it was suddenly clear that Creed was acting much more defensively here. It was clear he hadn't egged on a fight, instead, the fight was more about Logan staying away from whatever was going on up on the platform.

Another pattern of this memory… Creed found himself losing. Slowly but surely, he lost the upper hand and finally in a fit of anger from the girl screaming above, Creed was thrown off the building. As he fell in the memory, Birdy realized the 'building' had been the statue of liberty…

She pulled herself away from the memory of Creed as he crashed through a boat with enough impact to fall through the roof and first floor, destroying them entirely. She pulled away from the mental memory of the pain of the boat's wood tearing through Creed's back and arms, and Birdy pushed it away as well.

Other fights, all with this Logan, all which he'd lost, came to her, again and again in his mind. All his defeats in these battles, all the lack of control in an area he found himself unbeatable with anyone else, all the times he'd had his pride damaged to a loss to this guy. It became clear they had spurred on the rage. Why though? As finally the last memory seemed to be shoved away, it came to her.

It must be because of the first memory, because he had defeated Logan, but because he was controlled by this Braddock and it hadn't very well been a fair fight. Logan had been dead on his feet as Creed had said to the woman who had taken control of his mind.

With just that thought of hers alone, the dark seemed to shift and she found another memory played out, but it was dim, hard to see… and Birdy had to press harder and deeper into the strange pathways of his mind to see it. She didn't feel the anger in this memory, just pain, but Birdy was confused as she struggled to see more of it.

Someone was in the dark corner she could see, and she realized with a start, that it was Creed. He sat in a dark pool of liquid she couldn't distinguish, and there chains around his wrists, connected to the wall with crude, larger chains. Was it really Creed though? The person before her was _young_ , so young she hadn't thought it was him.

But the memories were always from his perspective, and this was from this boys.

His hands were over his knees, and he was propped up against the cement wall. Birdy frowned questioningly as he raised a hand, and with a start she realized the young boy was missing his fingernails… and with a sickening twist she connected that his nails _were_ his claws. But he was so young! Why was he locked up anywhere?

She tried to press further into the memory, to be able to see what was happening… but it acted strange. Birdy couldn't really _see_ into the memory like she could the others, the memory itself was disconnected in a way, It was so faded Birdy couldn't make the surroundings out. It took all her willpower just to be able to pull it towards her, instead of where it was almost smothered with the angrier memories of these fights.

Her concentration slipped and Birdy found her powers faded and she couldn't stay in the protected memory anymore, it was too hard to pull forward and instead she did what she did with the rest of them and pushed it away.

This painful one seemed to slip back easier than the rest, and Birdy had a feeling that had a lot to do with Victor's mind and not a lot to do with her. She realized it wasn't about losing the Logan guy, it was about the psychic controlling Creed. Which made her wonder why he kept a psychic around him.

She didn't have much time to wonder anything, as a select few more memories surfaced, Creed, older, the way she knew him, she found the same pattern. These weren't so hard to see, Creed on some medical table, strapped down, another where he was in a dirty jail cell, but nothing like the first. Eventually the memories ended, or she'd pushed enough of them out of his conscious mind and back into this dark, gory mind of his.

Birdy came to from her mental attack, and found she could breath again. She must have blacked out from her attack, for how long she didn't know. She realized the memories of Creed's hadn't faded away, they'd simply stopped because Birdy blacked out in reality.

Creed must have too, or maybe she blasted him physically because he was on the ground next to the bed. The bed itself had been shoved away from the wall, it was now crooked in the room and Creed sat on the floor, his back against it.

He was awake, unlike Birdy had been, and absolutely calm. His breaths came slowly and even, his eyes had lost the glazed look, his shoulders were sloped downward and his arms were limp. It looked like he'd just woken up from a peaceful slumber. _'The cat who ate the canary over there',_ She noted bitterly.

She pushed herself up off the wall and bit back a groan. She must have fallen at a weird angle, because her shoulder seemed as sore as her throat. Birdy glanced over at the man who'd just attacked her, eyes narrowed. A trip through memory lane didn't do much for _her_ to forget that (minutes?) ago he'd nearly killed her in his rage.

"Yer even better than I thought, frail," Creed said in a relaxed tone, his voice grew quieter as he looked her over thoughtfully. "I ain't felt this good in decades."

"Fuck off," Birdy scowled, as she moved to the other side of the room and pulled clothes on over her pajamas. Great for him, someone pushed all his pain and rage away, but she sure as hell wasn't staying here. But her situation was precarious, and she wasn't sure if she'd even make it out the door. But it seemed as good as time as any and if she stayed in this room her mouth would get her killed.

She walked past him and towards the door, but he didn't leap up to stop her as she expected. Birdy glanced over her shoulder as she passed through the door, but he was still in the same spot, his head leaned back on the mattress, completely relaxed.

"Ya know, Birdy," His voice rumbled deeply, but loud enough to reach her. "Wherever ya run ta, I"ll end up findin' ya."

"Oh don't worry. I'll be back," She snapped, in hopes it would keep him here. "Like I have a choice anyways," She muttered more to herself but it made him snort behind her.

He let her go and as she actually hit the outside of the building, she decided to trace her steps back to the bar from earlier. What else would be open? Hell, she didn't even know what time it was. But she needed somewhere to sit and clear her head.


	4. Chapter 4 : Home

Author's Note- Alright, here's the last chapter! I'm happy looking the story over that I separated it and made the first couple of chapters! Thank you SO much to Irbis and Mavelite5ever for your continued reviews! I loved hearing all the feedback! :D If you like this story I have a collection of one-shots for Birdy/Victor also that I'm always working on and Long Way from Home and it's sequels by Irbis are REALLY good Sabretooth fan fictions! I definitely suggest reading them. Please review this last chapter if you get the chance and let me know what you thought of the story! Thanks for reading!

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Chapter 4

The bitter taste of the beer slid down her throat and Birdy continued to try and massage the back of her shoulder where she could reach. God _damn_ Creed, she could feel her throat catch whenever she took too deep of a breath. She had a new problem, now, and not just because her newly found boss/kidnapper had nearly strangled her to death...

Now she **felt** bad... for _him_. How did anyone manage to do that? She could make an entire list of evil, despicable things she'd seen out of him in just the couple weeks she'd known him! Things that elicited the exact _opposite_ of sadness for him.

The thing was... tonight was the first time she'd **really** seen into his head. That was the real, true problem with being a psychic. Seeing into someone's mind gave you their perspective. Completely honest and void of any bullshit or lies. Just their actual view on the world or a view on their memories. The stuff that made up their choices, actions, reasoning, and well, them.

Tonight she'd scratched the surface of his mind, hardly a swipe of a finger through a layer of dust, but it was enough. Enough to make her doubt her quick judgement of the guy, though she reminded herself it was healthily rational, judgement. It didn't deter the conflict she felt. After all, didn't she excuse her own life as a mercenaries on her upbringing? On the necessity life had thrown at her to push her into such things? If she condemned him and said it didn't matter what happened to him, then she had to do the same thing to herself. Birdy wasn't prepared to do that…

The longer she thought on it she decided the only _real_ difference she could make out between Creed and her, besides the creepy pleasure he took in his work, was that he took any guilt that might come from bad choices and squashed it entirely. He just lived the life he'd chosen with no regrets. He didn't justify his actions like she did, he simply did what he pleased. Birdy took another swig of her beer.

Birdy personal believed he _should_ regret a ton of shit in just the three or four weeks of his life she'd seen, much less a lifetime of who knew **what** that had lead him here. But there was something she could appreciate in that kind of confidence. Not just confident in yourself, but confident of your entire way of life, uncaring of every move made, free from any restraints or consequences.

If he wasn't such a violent, completely uncaring psycho she might find that kind of embrace of freedom beautiful in a way.

Birdy groaned at her conflicting thoughts and gave up on both massaging her shoulder and all her tries to figure out what the hell she thought of Victor Creed after that trip through his actual memories. She paid her tab and emptied the last few sips in her beer bottle. She should head back... Or maybe she'd just take a walk to clear her head, but the bar had been meant to do that. So a walk likely wouldn't do any good.

The cold night air made her pull her coat closer around her as she pushed the door open and decided that she'd just go and face the music. It was windy tonight in the middle of New York. She looked along the small buildings around her and sighed. She might as well get back, the other alternative was to run as far as she could and hope the guy wouldn't follow her.

A small part of her felt like that would be cruel... which she could recognize was insane to think after just being choked out. But he really was in a **lot** of pain, and Birdy had a way to fix his pain didn't she? Maybe she could help him in a way nobody else could. Birdy just wasn't sure if she really _wanted_ to. It was just hard to write him off now that she'd seen a glimpse of the pain that was driving his vicious actions...

Birdy's breath left her as she felt somebody grab ahold of her waist and clap a small clammy hand around her mouth. Adrenaline rushed through her, her pulse pounded quickly in her wrist and she felt hyperaware of every small twitch in her body, of the jerk of her arm, her legs locking up as if she were going run, her neck strained and her sudden silenced gasp strained her throat more. She squirmed, and tried to shake the firm hand off her, but the person had too good a grip and pulled her out of the light of the streetlight.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" Came a chilling whisper near her ear.

What the fuck? She'd been expecting a ransom or questioning about Creed's location. She assumed it was some associate or enemy of Creed's! Instead Birdy was being pushed up against the side of a building, her mouth still covered by the strangers strong grip. She struggled again, but still couldn't get her arms free and the bastard had her legs pinned now.

A car drove past, and lit up the alleyway she'd been shoved into and she found she recognized the stranger who attacked her. It was the skeezeball who'd approached her yesterday when she'd first entered that bar. The one she'd brushed off. How did she not notice he was there tonight!? Was she so engrossed in her thoughts she hadn't paid a bit of attention to her surroundings at a bar in the dead of night?!

She had no time to be angry with herself, instead she made a raspy noise as he tried to go for her clothes. His face twitched confused as he opened her shirt and she realized she still had her pajama shirt underneath from her hasty escape from the hotel room. His shock wore off quickly but it was enough time for her to gather herself.

While her heart sped away in her ear Birdy lashed out mentally at the guy. She drove a blast straight through his consciousness, aimed only to hurt him quickly. He let out a pained cry and when he jerked his head back it loosened his grip enough that Birdy was able to shove hard against his chest and make him stumble away from her.

Birdy didn't give it another second to get worse, instead she launched herself out of the alleyway. She slipped on the uneven pavement before she set off in a dead run. If the guy was that far off his rocker he attacked her, well she wasn't going to stick around to see what happened next.

Her feet tingled with each hard thump to the pavement. She couldn't focus on anything but her feet that connected with the pavement in short leaps. Birdy had run into creeps before but it was different when she was stupidly caught off guard. Off guard… and honestly terrified.

"Umph," She groaned as she ran straight into somebody, and promptly bounced off their chest. They hadn't fallen back by her sudden impact like she had, instead they reached out swiftly and caught her around the waist soundly with an arm, her fall prevented. She swallowed painfully, and the stranger pulled her up straight with an uncanny ease.

She slowly raised her head, everything around her still moved like it was on fast forward, the cars in the distance sped on and even her own heartbeat seemed to race, but she couldn't seem to move herself to match the world's pace suddenly, caught by someone else.

But the hard, stubbled face she met made her blink up dumbfounded into the dark, reflective eyes of Victor Creed.

"Creed?" She swallowed, and then winced in pain as her throat constricted.

"It's _Mr_. Creed unless ya want ta lose that tongue o'yers," Creed said unamused, eyebrow raised in a question as he withdrew his arm from around her waist. Birdy quickly straightened herself out, and brushed her arms off, straightened the shirt that had been pulled open before.

Now that she knew it was Creed, she didn't look at him, instead focused on her breathes in and out evenly, to look in control of herself. She wasn't in any danger, well immediate danger, so she needed to take a second to compose herself.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, as she raised her chin up to meet his stony gaze.

"Ya see, I **enjoy** ta waste my time strollin' around this shit town," He deadpanned with a dismissive snort, the sarcasm thick on his tongue.

Right, dumb question. He came to look for her because she'd been gone too long. Birdy swallowed again, and reminded of why she was out late, she looked back over her shoulder. Though, honestly, if the guy **did** follow her, Creed was a very good person to be next to.

As Birdy finally returned her attention to Creed she found that he was gave her a strange look. His face twitched a few times oddly and Birdy felt uncomfortable under his inspecting gaze for whatever reason.

"What's wrong with ya?"

"What kind of question is that to ask a lady?" She bit back defensively, her voice a higher pitch. He replied with a low growl, and she jumped as he suddenly gripped her upper arm. Her skin crawled as his claws whispered against her bare arm.

"What were ya runnin' from girl?" He asked pointedly and cut off Birdy as she opened her mouth to dismiss what he said. "Don' give me no bullshit answer neither."

He shook her slightly, to emphasize his point evidently. It was so not necessary from the deadly look he'd pierced her with.

"Just some guy who made an unpleasant go at me," She shrugged to try to pass it off. 'Make a go' wasn't quite attacked, but it wasn't something she wanted to go into. Advertise to Creed that she was so easily distracted. Not the plan at all. She needed to look on top of her game when she was around him.

Birdy didn't know whether he believed it or not, he didn't say anything. But he'd stopped his hard stare at her now. Instead of answering, he bent down towards her and Birdy felt her breath catch in her throat as he got much closer to her.

She blinked, and wonder what had gotten into him. His face was inches from the side of her head, his nose practically touching the side of her neck. It shouldn't be strange, because someone who did the things Creed did, anyone would expect the worst. But in the time she'd been with him, he'd never made a pass at her. Even if she'd thought he would at first, he never so much as felt her up.

Now he was very, _very_ close to her. Birdy could smell the subtle fresh scent that clung to him, and she could see the small stubble that traveled up his sharp jawline distinctly and ran into his sideburns. Before she could do much more than stare, he'd straightened back up to tower over her again. His head was tilted up now and Birdy looked at him quizzically as she figured out it was his nose that twitched and not his whole face. He turned his head in the opposite direction they'd been standing and then they were off without another word.

"Hey! Do you mind telling me where we're going?" She shouted up to him as he dragged her along by her arm. But he ignored her, of course, and kept forward at a quick pace. "Hey!" She tried to shake his grip off.

"Shut up," He growled, the sound was different than his usual aggravated tone. It was a deep, rumbled sound that held none of the anger she'd started to associate with his growl. Birdy let out an exasperated sigh and resigned herself to being dragged off to who knew where. Creed knew where he was going, though, because he didn't pause in his steps.

It didn't take long, before Creed stopped in front of a gas station and opened the door. It was a small place, racks filled with anything you'd need to pick up, and a lottery machine just inside the door where they stepped in.

"Stay here," He ordered, and pushed her further into the store without so much as a glance.

"Where are you going!" Her shout went completely ignored and Creed was gone out the door before she could say anything else. She breathed in heavily, and finally as she stood still, Birdy found she was too exhausted to worry about where he was going. She'd just stay here until he showed up… which was probably the first time she'd actually listened to one of these types of orders.

Just as Birdy got around to wasting time in front of the coffee machine they had to calm her nerves, a huge crash had her and the attendant running towards the doors where they could see. Her gaze followed the other guys to the glass that was shattered alarmingly across the street.

Birdy stepped towards the window of the door to look at the sight in the streetlight clearly. There was something in the middle of the road, it had been hurled through the grocery store window across from the gas station. It was hard to see what it was from behind the gas pumps blocking her view.

Birdy stepped just out the door to investigate as she ignored the attendant's protests. Just as the door shut behind her, she saw something else fly from the large windows across the street. She walked out farther from the building and towards the street to make sure she saw it right. She was, though, there was no mistake there.

It was Creed.

She scowled and ran closer to see what the hell he was doing. What she saw in the middle of the road wasn't a chair or something that her mind had quickly imagined to piece the incident together. Instead the scene she saw was vastly different than she could have imagined. Right in the middle of the street was Creed, crouched over the sceezebag who'd attacked her! From the light of the streetlamp she could see the sickly points of his claws, long and deadly, poised threateningly over the guys face.

"Well… fuck me," She muttered to herself, and watched as Creed pulled the guy up by his shirt where he was on the ground.

She rushed forward to see more, stopping by the streetlamp on the sidewalk. There was red pooled around the man, it dripped from the cuts from the shattered glass as Creed put him up on his feet. From her new vantage point she could hear the man sob and Creed's deep, menacing voice.

"P-please..."

"Listen up, I'm gunna rip yer fingers off **one** by **one** an' shove 'em down yer fuckin' throat if ya don' get talkin' real soon ya piece o' shit," Creed thundered. With the man's silence Creed rammed the guy out of the street and into the building next to the gas station.

"I...I... didn' d-do noffin," The guy cried out.

Creed snarled and with a scream that pierced through even Birdy, the guy started to sob louder as Creed tossed something over his shoulder. Birdy swallowed, no doubt in her mind that Creed followed through on his threats.

"Y-y-you... you... m-m-my... I-I-I," The guy wailed.

"Pathetic like the rest," She barely heard Creed grumble.

The guy went on with his blubber of words and it only made Creed toss him into an alleyway and dart after him. Birdy looked around and saw the shocked attendant who had scrambled outside and joined a group that had come from the grocery store. Her first step was damage control. She reached out with her mind to try and calm them, block their initial reaction.

The gut wrenching scream that came from that alleyway had her give up her task to dart into it. With so many people it was a useless plan when there was more to interrupt what she was trying to nudge them not to pay attention to. As she rounded the corner, Creed wordlessly, dropped the guy to the ground.

Birdy couldn't feel his mind there, just Creed's….

She swallowed, looked at Creed and expected to find him to move on and lash out at something. Instead Creed was still as he inspected the dead body. He stepped around it and then after a moment he acknowledged her in the mouth of the alley.

"I told ya ta wait inside. Ya deaf now, or just too stupid ta listen?" He asked with no hint at any of his rage or sudden anger.

She blinked at the blonde as he turned his back to her and picked up the body and tossed him into a dumpster further down the alleyway. He came back and picked up something, his, erm, leg? She gagged a little.

"Wh-what..." She barley got out as Creed wiped his hands off on his pants and approached her.

"That the guy who attacked ya?" He asked seamlessly.

"Yeah..." She looked at the dumpster and blinked, shouldn't be have **asked** that _before_ he tore the guy to pieces. What if it hadn't been that guy? It had been the guy, but how Creed knew was beyond her!

Creed only nodded at her answer and tucked his hands into his pockets to walk from the alleyway. She looked between the dumpster and his back.

"Get a move on, girl, sirens are a comin' this way."

Birdy darted after him, but she wasn't about to let this drop. She just had no wish to be here when the cops showed up to investigate the crime. Especially not with a group of witnesses and Creed who hadn't tried to be even a little discreet. He threw the guy through a freakin window before he made a scene in the middle of the street!

"Victor, you didn't even..." She didn't finish her thought, caught off guard. Birds had called him by his first name without thinking. The man looked over his shoulder a second before he paused their tracks for a moment.

"Don' get no stupid ideas frail," Creed looked down at her with narrowed eyes, his voice dropped into a low rumble. "That had nothin' ta do with ya."

"Oh no?" She challenged, eyebrows raised. It sure looked like it from where she stood. It _seemed_ like someone attacked her and Victor went and defended her. That's how it looked to her, so what else could he say?

"Yer **mine** now," He snarled shortly. "Ya belongs ta me." He growled down to her now, but she still called bullshit. "An' nobody is gonna fuck with whats I own. That's all."

Birdy wanted to respond with something smart-assed, pick his shitty defense apart. But she couldn't find the words and just followed behind him quietly. She hadn't even said the guy attacked her... well, it came off obvious, but she didn't expect him to go off and... well, protect her. In whatever twisted sort of way.

She was a means to an end right? A way to sort his head and calm him down. He'd nearly killed her back at the hotel... and then he goes and puts a quick end to some guy who attacked her? That logic didn't add together. She couldn't help herself, Birdy couldn't fully believe all his bluster about it not being to defend her.

Birdy glanced up to look at his profile as they got closer to the hotel again. It wasn't like she would have been that bothered by it after the initial scare, she'd had to deal with all sorts of stuff like this, with nobody to look after her growing up, and never since then. A few crappy relationships, but no one who took such offense to something like this.

Sure, she should probably be more bothered that he'd just tossed this guy through a window and torn his limbs off... but she just couldn't right now. He gave her a last look before he turned and continued down some back alleys towards the hotel.

Tonight was just full of surprises. So what was she to think? She knew what she _should_ think, Birdy just also couldn't make herself believe that line of rational thinking at the moment.

All she was saying was that maybe there was someone worth helping under all that pain after all.


End file.
